


After the End

by sagesaria



Category: Wandersong (Video Game)
Genre: End of the World, Gen, General, Sad, Spoilers, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 23:10:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20515037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagesaria/pseuds/sagesaria
Summary: The bard and Miriam failed to save the world, and Eya and her angel are left to grieve before starting the new world.





	After the End

And so it ended. With one last strike, the Dream King finally fell, no longer able to escape the hero’s blade. The world dissolved into nothing but a silent, white void. Only one thing remained of the old world; a green feathered cap. Eyala snatched it up in the milliseconds before the lil bard and Miriam disappeared forever. A taboo gesture on the little angel's part, but so many rules were being broken this cycle anyway, what was one memento of the bard who almost made it?

No matter how many millennia, how many cycles Eya and her servant went through, no matter how many times the world ended and started anew...it never got any easier to watch. Humans would try so hard to stay strong and save the world as it fell apart, others just like the lil bard would try to sing the Earthsong to no avail. And then there was Eyala's role as the guide to the hero. She had to be the one to tell them that they were opening the gates to oblivion. She had to watch the fear, conflict, and heartbreak in their eyes, every cycle. And this time she couldn't even be by the hero's side in the end. Audrey made it clear she didn't want her in her life. She did her duty, but she died alone.

And then there was Lil B and Miriam...they did so much more for the world than Eyala had seen from would-be saviors in a long time. Eyala could feel the harmony returning to the places they passed through, that silly singer's pure heart touching every life they met. For the first time ever, she was convinced that someone might finally be able to sing the Earthsong. Even when they came face to face with the hero herself, directly defying the natural end, she couldn't bring herself to root for anyone but that little bard. But they couldn't save the world. Audrey threw them both to the ground with her finishing blow. They were both unconscious and unaware of the end, neither of them able to sing in those critical final moments.

The end of every cycle hurt. But for the first time in an eternity, Eyala cried in the face of the end.

She hovered in the silent void, curled around that green cap that was almost as big as she was. The lil bard loved this hat - she could feel the love that had been put into it when they and their friend stitched it together, all because they loved that pretty red feather. It was beautiful. It was so them. And now it was all that remained, and that made Eyala bury her tears into it more.

A soft, melodic voice hummed across the void.

"Eyala," a pair of hands, almost invisible against the blinding light of the void, cupped Eyala in a tender embrace, and the world moved under her. Soft, iridescent eyes studied her, the face of the creator goddess crossed with a sad smile. A sad blue gradually overtook the other colors of the prismatic hair that draped her body like a cape, creating a river of radiant blue light in the void.

"My poor tenderhearted angel. This cycle was difficult for you."

Eyala nodded, not looking up from her curled position in Eya's hand.

"I thought it would actually work this time. They were so close."

"I know," Eya cooed, caressing the angel's hair comfortingly with her finger, "But there's nothing to be done now but start anew. Perhaps time will birth another like that little bard."

Eyala looked down at the cap in her hands. Its green sheen seemed so dull and lifeless against the radiance of the goddess.

"I wish we could just like. Tell em what to do," she sulked, "It's not fair letting it fall apart like this."

"Ah...that is the burden of free will, my angel. Even I cannot keep the universe from falling apart after so long. Mortals feel that decay, and they suffer. I gave them the Hero so that they wouldn't have to suffer. Perhaps there is another way the world could be spared. Perhaps someday mortals like the little bard will find it. But...in the end, there is always a choice. And they will have to be the ones to make it. Even our Redheart made hers."

Eya's brows furrowed as she crooned Audrey's family name. Eyala could feel the disappointment rippling through her being, and frowned to match her mistress. Audrey did indeed make her choice. The mantle of the Hero was meant to be a beacon of hope and safety for mankind, but Audrey wore it like a shield that would protect her from her own self-doubt, from her loneliness, from her perceived insignificance in the world. Her time as the Hero was riddled with fear and doubt, masked with arrogance and projection on those who shouldered her flaws. Perhaps if she'd just listened to the lil bard's words, perhaps if she wasn't blind to what they were accomplishing...this time, it could have been different. She heard them, their words resonated with her fear, and yet in the end she still chose oblivion as a Hero over salvation as one forgotten. She chose the letter of her title, but not the spirit.

"But I believe," continued Eya, "That now we know it can be done. There will be others like that little bard, of that I am certain. Someone with that song in their heart and love for the world that rivals my own. And between the both of us, my angel, we can help them to find a way."

She turned her hand over. Resting on her fingertips, where it probably wasn't before, was a token Eya herself had saved from the dying world; a purple wooden mask, carved and engraved to resemble the face of a nondescript creature. Eyala recognized it - Eya's mortal disguise. The mysterious being who lurked in unexpected places, taught the bard to dance and bent their ear with deep thoughts. Lil B was just starting to understand what 'Mask' meant, when ‘he’ talked about the little things in the universe.

The Goddess's eyes turned to the angel again.

"It's time, Eyala," she crooned, "The new world awaits. We both have to let this one go, now."

Eyala's fingers clutched tighter around the feather cap and she curled in a protective ball, shaking her head.

"Eyala," Eya's voice grew bolder, yet still calm, like a parent gently coaxing a stubborn child, "I know. But it won't bring them back. It's too late, and all we can do is begin the next cycle. I'm sorry."

Eyala didn't answer. She felt herself moving again, the goddess's essence coming closer, then a soft warmth on the top of her head where Eya had gently kissed her hair.

"The new world will have many more wonderful people. I cannot bring back the little bard, or Miriam, or Audrey, but we will both remember them fondly with every new mortal who is born."

More silence. Slowly, reluctantly, Eyala looked down at the cap, running her hand one last time through the soft red feather. She could feel Eya's soft smile behind her, patiently waiting. So finally, she held the cap out to the white void ahead, Eya also extending the fingers which supported the mask. With trembling hands, wiping the final tears from her eyes, Eyala's fingers slowly released the cap. The two trinkets drifted out of their grasp, crumbling almost instantly at the contact with nonexistence. She didn't take her eyes off of the bard's hat as the fabric withered and turned grey, splitting into particles and dissolving into the void, leaving the feather to persist just another second longer before it too disintegrated. Its red hue was the first color to fill the white space as Eya sang her tuneless song to begin anew, swirling with the purple of Masks mask, creating a bridge for other colors to fill the void.

And so it ended again, and so it began again.

"Goodbye...Lil B."

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by this fanart by WHATiFGirl on dA: https://www.deviantart.com/whatifgirl/art/I-m-Sorry-Lil-B-772526674  
And yes, my pet theory about Wandersong is that Mask is Eya in mortal disguise, pushing the bard in the right direction. My main basis for this is that the color of his pants reminds me of the clouds in the hero dream and in the spirit world in general, and the fact that he's always ahead of the bard and always seems to imply that he knows something about what's happening. The conversation in Eya's Temple is a prime example. I felt I had to reference it in this conversation :-) Hope you enjoyed.


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